Former defensive lineman Sean Gilbert may have lost the election for NFL Players Association executive director, but union officials said last week they would look into whether his plan to bring a collusion case against the NFL is viable.
“We will obviously look at this,” said NFLPA President Eric Winston, a day after the March 15 election. Gilbert and seven other challengers lost the election for executive director to incumbent DeMaurice Smith.
Winston said that outside counsel Jeffrey Kessler, who was at the NFLPA meetings where Gilbert proposed bringing the case as part of his campaign for the union’s top job, would review the argument. Kessler declined comment.
Smith also indicated the union’s attorneys would review Gilbert’s argument. “We will take a look at anything that could potentially benefit the players,” Smith said.
Gilbert ran for more than a year on a platform of overturning the CBA by using the collusion case as leverage against the owners, as well as using the incentive of agreeing to expand the regular season from 16 to 18 games. Both would serve as a means for NFL players to reopen the 2011 NFL CBA and get a better deal for the players, he believed.
Gilbert unveiled his much-discussed collusion claim during his 40-minute presentation to players the day before the election. He said a provision in the NFL CBA, known as the “Funding Rule,” was the basis. “The funding rule prohibits us from getting fully guaranteed contracts like baseball and basketball,” Gilbert said in his speech, which was distributed to members of the media.
The NFL did not respond to a request for comment on Gilbert’s statements.
